The present invention relates to hockey stick assemblies having replaceable blades and replaceable shafts. In particular, the present invention relates to a hockey stick assembly having an intermediate shank which locks the shaft of the hockey stick to the replacement blade with a spring-biased release member.
Hockey sticks are subjected to a variety of stresses during the course of a hockey game. These stresses often produce undue wear on the blade portion of the stick to such an extent that a complete new hockey stick is necessary.
To eliminate the need for replacing the entire hockey stick, hockey stick assemblies have been designed so that only the damaged blade portion of the hockey stick need be replaced. However, replacing the damaged blade portion has been both time consuming and expensive. With one such hockey stick assembly, the shank and the replaceable blade are molded as a unitary structure and are fabricated from thermoplastic, polymeric material. The shaft of the hockey stick is joined to the replaceable blade and to the shank by heating the shank and inserting the shaft into a socket of the shank. Upon cooling, the shank sets rigidly and grips tightly onto the shaft.
With another hockey stick assembly, the blade of the hockey stick is secured to an aluminum shaft by a hot melt glue. This creates a number of problems for those who do not have the right equipment to heat up the shaft and the blade or the right equipment to work with the glue. Both of above hockey stick assemblies require expensive equipment to heat up either the shaft or the blade in order to secure the blade to the shaft. Moreover, replacing the damaged blade portion on both hockey stick assemblies requires time for heating up either the glue or the shank and allowing the heated material to then cool. This duration of time prevents the replacement of the damaged blade portion during a hockey game. As a result, several hockey sticks must be kept on hand.